THE CLOCK TRADE IN GREAT BRITAIN The consumption of clocks in Great Britain is enormous and it is very largely met by importation from abroad. In the 17th and i8th centuries clock-making was mainly centred in England and France, but the modern output of low-priced clocks has be come mainly the produce of German and American factories. At one time before the World War, a German kitchen clock was freely sold retail in England for a few shillings. The manufac ture in England of the better sort of clock is still carried on at London, Coventry, Croydon, Derby and other places on a fairly large scale ; in several instances munition factories have been turned to clock-making.
There is also an English industry engaged in placing imported movements in British-made cases. The extent of this may be gathered from the fact that under the heading "parts of clocks" the imports into the United Kingdom in 1925 were valued at £1,239,000 and in 1926 at £463,000. A number of British manu facturers are producing clocks on mass-production lines with success, and it is claimed that the protection they have obtained of a 331% import duty is of great assistance to the trade. The imports of clocks into the United Kingdom fell from a value of £1,o99,000 in 1925 to £376,000 in 1926. The exportation of British clocks from the United Kingdom is negligible; it amounted in 1926 to a value of £12,69o. (X.)